Polly O'leary

SBA, Dip SBA (Dist)

Adventures in Botanical Art

Friday, 18 December 2015

For a while I'd been wanting to try out painting on Vellum and last year, fellow artist and friend Shevaun Doherty gifted me a sample of vellum for me to try. For a year I looked at it, examined it and backed away. what if I spoiled it? what if I wasted it making mistakes and ruined it?

In the end, I contacted William Cowley and bought a sample pack suitable for painting on. Still I waited, there was only one piece of each type and I'd never worked on vellum before.

More research was needed. Luckily some of my Botanical Artist friends have blogged online about their Vellum painting techniques, so I was able to read about how they work with this tricky medium.

Once I had enough information, it was time to practise my technique. I've never been one to practise a piece fully before painting. A few tonal/colour swatches and notes, a trial of a few petals/buds/leaves and I'm off. I've always produced better results when I'm still exploring a subject and there's no point in having my best work in a sketchbook. But there's no room for this with Vellum, it's too rare, so practise I did.

First practise was on paper, then on a small piece of Sheepskin Parchment which was lovely to work on. Fortunately the gooseberries didn't ripen together so there was a steady supply of berrries.

Dry brush practise on Paper, then Vellum (on top)

Dry brush on paper above, on Vellum below

Then, with more confidence, a more ambitious attempt on Manuscript Vellum, I tried a little piece of Kelmscott, but really didn't like working on it.

Dry Brush on Manuscript Vellum

At last I felt that I could brave a larger piece and decided to try working on the Calfskin Vellum, a small branch of Gooseberries

First washes and Dry brush

At first they looked a bit like glass Christmas Baubles, with their pale colours

Building up the colours on the berries

Then as more colours were laid down, they started to look more Gooseberry-like

Hairless Gooseberry - Watercolour on Vellum

Salvadore Dali was right, there's no danger of me reaching perfection, but I won't stop trying.
I'm still not sure how I feel about painting on vellum, but I have a little more, so will try it again when I find the right subject. What do you think, are you tempted to try it?

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

The Welsh Orchid Festival was, as usual, a whirlwind of flowers, scent and people. So many lovely orchids in one place, and so many orchid lovers too.

Welsh Orchid Festival 2015

We seem to have got our painting transportation down to a fine art now and the stand quickly took shape. This year, as I was tucked away in a far corner, I got a banner made so that people knew I was there and who I was.

Polly o'Leary Stand with Banner

I had cards of some of my paintings printed and they were very well received. More designs are planned for the new year.

Orchid Cards

Also this year, children were showing an interest in the orchids and it's so good to see young people being enthusiastic about plants. Two young men of about seven or eight years became fascinated by my sketching and painting some Orchids and were most disappointed that there were no paper and paints for them to try it too. We had a lovely chat about what I was painting and why, which bits were important, how and why I was measuring the plants and why the colours had to be matched exactly. They were really very interested indeed and wondered if they would be able to do something like that. I love that almost every child is an artist!

In the midst of it all my lovely friend Claire Ward popped in for a chat. So nice to see her as we live on opposite sides of Wales!

As usual, I came home with more than I took. A tray of baby Orchids of different species - yes species! I'm now going into uncharted Orchid territory with these - grateful thanks for these go to Dr Kevin Davies, Chairman of the Welsh Orchid Study Group . A pot of Scaphosepalum verrucosum, with minute flowers, grateful thanks to Mrs Val Micklewright of the Orchid Society of Great Britain
for these. Paphiopedalum Black Jack, a baby Paphiopedilum St Swithin and Phalaenopsis Mini Mark also came home with me, but I bought these. The living room now looks like a flower shop./Orchid nursery!

Paphiopedilum St Swithin Sketch

I was also given Orchids to paint again this year, a flower of
Paphiopedilum St Swithin gratefully received from Andrew Bannister of Orchid Alchemy, and a whole plant - Stanhopea tigrina, on loan
from Alan Gregg of Singleton Botanical Garden Swansea, so as usual it was a race against time in the coming days to record these lovelies before they wilted.

I wasn't the only artist at the show though. Paul Steer of Art in a Corner had a stand with his amazing watercolour frescoes of landscapes, butterflies and other nature inspired subjects. It's fascinating how many different ways there are to portray similar subjects and Paul has a most original way of looking at the world and then letting us glimpse his vision.

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About Me

I paint plants, sometimes I paint the critters that live on plants and munch them. Sometimes the critters that live on the plants like to bite me instead of the plants, which can be painful. Occasionally, the people I live with like to eat what I'm painting, which can be frustrating.
Keeping a sketchbook, I get to study the plants in depth and really get to know them before progressing to painting 'on the good paper'. There is so much wonder in a leaf, and so many different colours! I also love colour, of flowers, buds, hairs, spines, and of the paints - so many different colours to play and experiment with...